quick sports thoughts

I told you that Roger Goodell would quickly wear out his welcome. What does he think the NFL is? A baptist church?

And so ends the Florida basketball program. Back to being on par with Tennessee rather than Kentucky.

I like the way Billy Knight is thinking. He should toss out as many possibilities as he can conjure up. We have picks, young players, and cap room. He could completely remake this team over the summer. That trade would have given them Jack, Joe Johnson, Marvin, maybe Noah?, and Aldridge as starters. With Speedy, Lue, Childress, Zaza, Solomon, and Shelden coming off the bench. And since the West is still going to be strong, possibly an 8-15 pick next year (especially valuable since our is going to Phoenix). It might not be the best solution out there, but at least he's trying this year. Considering how much he blew it last year. Personally I'd like to package the #11 pick and either Marvin or Josh (I'm siding with trading Josh at the moment) and possibly someone else for an extremely solid PF or C. Then I'd take Conley with the 3rd pick.

Dangerous Cousins

Check out this "joke" audition of the 19 year old Michael Cera (George Michael Bluth from Arrested Development) trying out for Seth Rogen's part in Knocked Up. (NSFW audio)

Falling Behind

I want Mike Conley. I don't want to wait to see what point guard is available at 11. Grab Conley then takes what's left at 11. Either that or broker one hell of a trade.

Movie Quotes counting down using numbers 100-1. My favorites were "50 eggs", "what do you mean something like 36", "saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors", and of course "these go to 11"



I've been falling behind in my visitation and cataloging of the pub crawl. So to save time here are some five word reviews:

15) Loco's on Peachtree: standard sports bar cute waitresses

16) Dantanna's: expensive sports bar cute waitresses

17) CJ's Landing: sad to see you go

18) One Star Ranch: $2 Lone Star Beers M-Th

19) Neighbors: Best porch in Virginia Highlands

Vulture

New York Magazine has started an entertainment blog called "Vulture" that I've slowly become obsessed with over the past 12 hours. It's a little more high brow than some other sites and is more likely to feature a recap of a broadway show than a shot of Lohan's "swimsuit area". The best feature I've discovered so far is their roundup of free .mp3s from music blogs called "Right Click". Bestweekever does the same thing and calls it Listen Up. Between the two of then you should be able to steadily increase your iTunes library and find a new band every now and then.

As for music blogs themselves, I've been checking out Atlanta flavoured That Truncheon Thing and Cable and Tweed. Unfortunately I don't go to enough live shows these days, but having a few song sampler before a show makes it much more intriguing.

You're motoring...What's your price for flight?

Following up last week's Rudy parody, did anyone else catch the Boogie Nights nod on My Name is Earl last night? Earl walks into Joy's trailer and Sister Christian is playing on the boombox while one kid throws Chinese Firecrackers and the other kid is sucking sugar of the table through a straw. It took me a second to catch it. My interest in Earl has been declining all year but to have such a understated reference earns a lot of my respect. Reminded me of some of the inside jokes Arrested Development used to have. You can catch it at the 5:45 mark of part 1. (it counts down instead of up by the way)


And here is the original clip

mash potatoes

- This is some bullshit. I guess everyone should carry breathalyzers on them at all times. Seriously this is insane. If your child borrows your car and gets a DUI, the parent gets another charge on top of it?

- I'm just about to be in favor of a ban on mentioning Mike Vick's name on Atlanta sports talk radio. I'm just tired of every possible discussion involving him. And Roger Goodell might wear out his welcome very quickly.

- I liked Steve Kerr's line during the Suns/Spurs game on Tuesday night that the subs were like line shifts in hockey. They could either go big (Kurt Thomas) or small (Diaw) and completely changed the complexion of their team. The Spurs can do the same thing with having Oberto and Duncan in the game or Duncan at center and Horry in the game. I love deep teams in the playoffs. It allows for them to get by mismatches.

- I'm trying to figure out how much I would personally pay (not including tickets) to get a coach like Sloan, D'antoni, Pop, or Nelson for the Hawks.

- 14) Six Feet Under: I hit up the new Westside location last night at Northside and 11th. It still has a great porch though the name loses a little meaning since it doesn't overlook a cemetery like the original location. There is a much more spacious bar area and the deck up top looks bigger as well. What I was really surprised to find out is that they're open until 1am M-Th and until 2am on Friday and Saturday. Which means if you park on the west side of The Ted for a Braves game and take Northside home it's a great place for drinks and food after the game.

If you haven't been to any of the restaurants in the area, "west midtown" as I guess they are calling it is really turning around. It started awhile back and Atlantic Station really moved things forward. Chow Baby, Taqueria del Sol, Slice, Figo, Carver's Grocery, Kool Korners Grocery are all great places to grab some food. At some point this whole area is going to lead directly into the rash of restaurants that are going in by Centennial Park.

Great Atlanta Pub Crawl Update

7) The Local - just on the outskirts of what most would consider Virginia Highlands. Laid back bar of hipsters that look down at me for my "uniform" of collared shirts and khaki shorts. Several good beers on draft and a small but nice porch if you can find a seat. Of course the plan was to meet Connor at Moe's and Joe's for their Tuesday night special of $3.25 PBR pitchers. But in typical Dude fashion he had lost his ID. Which caused him to be 30 minutes late and ruled out any place where he might be carded.

8) The Elbow Room - Excellent pizza and sandwiches place that I ignored for way too long. I highly recommend the Fried Eggplant sandwich. Rumor has it that on Monday nights all drinks are $3. And not just well drinks. Supposedly Jared got some top shelf scotch (Mac 12).

Sidenote: It was at this point on Friday that I quickly found out that Buckhead Billiards and The Lodge have both closed. Fado's had a cover charge, it started raining, and The Red Room was way too crowded so we left 30 seconds after getting in. Not a solid 30 minutes of my life

9) Kramer's: former Pool Hall bartender Kramer has opened up his own place on Peachtree. Friday was my third trip and I haven't really been taken by the experience yet. I just don't like the vibe. I've left after one drink all three times. On the plus side, it might have the best collection of eye candy right now than any other bar in Atlanta. I can't really speak to clubs.

10) 5 Paces Inn: I've had a great time the last 4-5 times I've been here. The door to the mens bathroom was missing on Friday which I thought made for a great dynamic. The girls line was forced to watch every guy in the bar piss. I even contemplated going for some type of daredevil type urination but settled for a powerful stream.

11) McDuff's: Least crowded I've seen this place on a weekend in a long time. Actually played a game of darts. I typically only like this place Sunday-Thursday when they preferably have some type of acoustic act playing.

Saturday is one long blur of events. I highly enjoyed The Railbird's Derby Party until sometime during the Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby. Which is when memory starts slipping away.

12) The Bucket Shoppe: Tucked away in a business building next to Lenox Square it's easy to miss. If it wasn't the sight of Auburn viewing parties I don't know if I would have ever known about it. However since it's close to The Rail Bird's it's been put in the loop. This place always surprises me with a good time.

If I explain to the cable company that I don't really remember the De La Hoya fight do you think they'll let me slide on paying the $55? No? Well that doesn't seem right.

13) Pool Hall: She ain't what she used to be, but I still enjoy a night on the porch every once and awhile. I may or may not have been escorted out.

The good news is that I'm on a pretty good place. The bad news is that I'm running out of establishments in walking distance pretty fast and I'm offending and fighting people at an alarming rate. Let's see how the rest of this turns out.

quick links

I was looking around flickr and came across this. I don't know how you label things inside your picture but these are cool and tasty looking.

Speaking of tasty...Early Times is good but I'm read to make the step up when you are Railbird.

At the bottom of this post from That Truncheon Thing you can find a weird ass version of Patti Smith covering Smells Like Teen Spirit. I know Tori Amos kinda went there before, but really, this is weird.

Your Dose of Derby News

First let's set the mood with some seasonal music. There...much better. So the Crafty Vet (Farmer Ted) picked Scat Daddy based solely on his name. Which is the same logic that lead to my lovely fiancee taking Deputy Glitters in the Derby last year. The Rail Bird is apparently going with Nobiz Like Shobiz, though not definitively or boldly. Kenny Mayne is going with Great Hunter though that may be a joke.

To make your own decision check out Left at the Gate's two part horse by horse breakdown Part One and Two. Also you can check out this online race form. When you click on the horses name it shows their performance in prep races.

Jay Cronley, author of Let It Ride has his picks and other info.

Personally, I really like Street Sense. But back around November in some drunken state I proudly told David that I'm taking whoever wins the Arkansas Derby this year in the Kentucky Derby. I am a man of my word and luckily enough, the Arky Derby winner was none other than favorite Curlin. He's short on experience, but aren't we all? The downside being that I'll be one of at least 7 people taking Curlin at the party.

weekend recap

Pub Crawl Update: 3) Smith's Olde Bar: Upstairs is without a doubt the best small music venue in the city. The acoustics/sound guy are superb. The rest of the bar blows. Management takes every opportunity to take advantage of the customer. Trivia winnings cannot be spent the same night, a Bud Light upstairs is a $1 more than downstairs, and my biggest beef is that I think they intentionally don't give exact starting times on bands so that you will show up hours early. They have on numerous occasions switched the lineups on smaller bands so instead of seeing a band at 8 they suddenly go on at 11. I'm glad this is the bar that bama Alumni Association has chosen for it's viewing parties.

4) Wing Factory: brought up the question of what constitutes an elgible establishment for the pub crawl. I'm saying that a restaurant that has a separate bar area with tables that have bar stools instead of chairs. So Wing Factory counts, Taxco wouldn't. I"m glad we have that settled.

5) Taco Stand: They had $2 shots for some reason. More importantly, I had $2 shots for some reason which pretty much made me useless for the rest of the night. Riding the high of seeing Van Morrison live earlier in the night, I was out of control and headed over to...

6) Churchill's on Cain's Hill in Buckhead. Not that one in Roswell (Churchill Downs?) or downtown (Churchill Arms?). I remember ordering the opening round and then waking up the next morning.

As for the Van Morrison show at Chastain on Saturday night. It was blissful. Luckily, we read in the paper shortly before we left that he'd be starting at 7:30 sharp, he'd play a 90 minute set, and it'd be a setlist featuring his hits. They didn't lie. At 7:30 Van's band hit the stage and played 90 continuous minutes of fantastic country and soul. At the most Van said 5 words and wasted 10 seconds between songs. My personal highlights were "I can't stop loving you" and "Georgia on My Mind". And now I'm going to sound like an ass. I decided there are two types of people on Saturday night. Those people who wanted him to play Brown Eyed Girl and people like myself. Don't get me wrong, at some point in time I thought it was a fantastic song, but at what point do you no longer care to hear every cover band on earth play it, and every drunk girl request it? And I don't think this applies to all bands universally. I happened to be at a festival last year that the Gourds played at. After hearing them for an hour and finish there set I was pretty irate they didn't play Gin and Juice. If Rick Springfield hadn't played Jessie's Girl at Music Midtown a few years ago I would have felt the same way. But I've always been mad at the people who only know about Van's early catalog (Brown Eyed Girl, Gloria) and his 80's catalog (Have I told You Lately that I love you) and think in general all his greatest songs are actually on his greatest hits. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, first grab a copy of Moondance. If you like it move on to His Band and Street Choir, St. Dominic's Preview, Astral Weeks, and then Tupelo Honey.

If David doesn't bring the thunder over at The Rail Bird this week to get you ready for the Derby, I'll try and hit you up with some links. But he really should know his purpose.